What Might Have Been
by Cyberchao X
Summary: Florina gets lessons in how to be more confident. Rated for nudity and same-sex subtext.


What Might Have Been  
by Cyberchao X

CCX: Well, "Innocence" and "Memories from the Ginnungagap" are doing well. It could just be the new fic swell, or it could be time for me to break of a BSG-esque "Yup, these are my readers." Well, if it is the latter, then they should be happy to learn that the title of this story, "What Might Have Been", has absolutely _nothing_ to do with the content of the story and has everything to do with my own former work. Yes, this is also providing a little bit of setup for a much grander work I've got planned out (which is considerably more yurilicious), this is, in a way, my atonement for the "Skin" disaster. And yet, with the new direction this one has taken since I first conceived it…well, you saw the rating, right?

Disclaimer: Don't own _Fire Emblem_ or its characters. Or much of anything else, so don't sue.

* * *

Badon—night before departure for the Dread Isle

"We don't know how long we're going to be away on this journey, so take full advantage of the amenities of civilization tonight," the leaders of the army had said. So it was that the shy young Pegasus Knight found herself at a public bathhouse. _Looks empty_, she thought, removing her towel and entering the water, still watching the wall separating the men's side from the women's side to make sure no one was peeking in. She knew that there was at least _one_ member of their army that she wouldn't put it past to try something like that. Focused on the wall, she was taken a bit by surprise when a voice behind her said, "Oh, hello, Florina."

"Oh, uh, Priscilla…I didn't see you when I came in…"

"Just dipped my head under the water for a bit to get everything wet. You really need to relax more. Lady Lyndis mentioned you get nervous around men, but you don't have to worry about that in here."

"Yeah…I'm trying to work on that. You seem to be comfortable enough around men…do you think maybe you could help me out?"

Priscilla smiled and put an arm around the Peg Knight. "I'd be glad to. What can I do?"

"Well, how do you do it?"

"Hmm…I never really thought about it. It's not like there's really much of a difference. Male or female, it doesn't matter; people are just people."

"Yeah, but men can be…well…"

"A bit too amorous at times? True, but you can't be afraid of that. You have to have confidence in yourself; stand firm and see them as your equals. If anything, that should make it easier, because if a guy is flirting with you, it obviously means he sees something he likes. It's up to you to determine whether or not his 'crush' will be reciprocated."

"I'd imagine you must get that a lot. You're so beautiful and elegant…"

Priscilla blushed. "I'm nothing special, really… I guess maybe my upbringing in House Caerlon may have afforded me a more noble poise, but…" Florina didn't quite understand the rest of the sentence, which was rather mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said that you're prettier than I am," she managed.

Florina looked shocked. "Y-y-you're joking, right? Just trying to get my confidence up?"

"Not at all. I wasn't the least bit surprised to hear of your problems with men, because the moment I saw you, I figured, 'This girl must be inundated with admirers'. Those long lavender locks, smooth slender legs, and overall petite frame…Florina, you're beautiful."

Florina was blushing madly. "Y-you really think so?"

Priscilla nodded. "You could probably have just about any guy you wanted. Here, I'll help you with that," she added, seeing Florina struggling to wash her back.

"I…thank you, Priscilla."

She smiled again. "Any time, Florina. Any time."

* * *

CCX: When I first came up with this idea, probably a number of years ago, it was a full-fledged Florina/Priscilla yuri. However, I kept putting it off and putting it off, and then last year I came up with another idea for an FE7 yuri and kind of had this referenced at one point, and it eventually came to me that as funny as it would be to put boy magnet Priscilla in a same-sex relationship, it just didn't quite work out right—though at the time, I still had her as going both ways and just ending up in a het relationship. Then I found TV Tropes and learned about the "class S" friendship concept and realized that this was a much better interpretation. (Of course, _Florina_ wouldn't mind it being a full-fledged relationship…) What resulted is that my so-called "Skin done right" actually managed to skate by with a T rating, the final piece of the puzzle, and that the title sort of _does_ refer to the content itself—the relationship that "might have been". (In that regard, it would make more sense if I'd done this after publishing the other one—which is still unnamed, hence my inability to reference it by name.) I hope you've enjoyed this and I pray I'll be able to get that more intense FE7 fic out soon. Ja ne!


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